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Mystery Palm: Is this Burretiokentia hapala? Ravenea?


PalmatierMeg

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About 10 years ago when I was trying to replant my back yard jungle, I bought a 3g Burretiokentia hapala to plant in it. I soon realized my FL sun was way too brutal for the little guy, so I set up a makeshift shade structure for the rest of the season. I kept a number of juvenile A. cunninghamianas as backup plantings and before the next summer I strategically placed several of them around my little Burretiokentia. Fast forward 5-6 years and what I believed to be my slow growing hapala croaked. By then I accepted palm deaths as part of palm growing so I shrugged and figured the picabeens would carry on. I took a really close look at one of them and realized it looked different. Its fronds were a dark green, not picabeen lime green and all the rachises had a "twist" in the middle that tipped each frond almost perpendicular to the ground. Piccabeen fronds lie almost flat and perpendicular to the ground. This palm's crownshaft was a deep emerald green and its skinny trunk brownish-green with prominent leaf scars. Picabeen trunks are gray.

"Wait!" I said to myself. "Did my B. hapala actually survive and grow lurking among the picabeens?" Then I studied the twisted fronds and wondered, "Is this palm actually a Ravenea?"

Because years ago I planted several species of Ravenea in the jungle, including R. hildebrandtii - but no majesties. As time passed, all of them bit the dust. Or so I thought.

Can anyone tell me what this very handsome palm is?

Mystery Palm

136606930_MysteryJunglePalm0201-01-21.thumb.JPG.b34311608fddfb4caa16549bde33f04f.JPG865438776_MysteryJunglePalm0301-01-21.thumb.JPG.a0cdd772273978a213671d74968a573d.JPG1754325711_MysteryJunglePalm0101-01-21.thumb.JPG.632c6d0606c01f2c9fd324d4cd4ff59a.JPG2139068567_JungleMysteryPalm0401-01-21.thumb.JPG.db90a1f09ed20d92f55fb29d8b64948d.JPG351073427_JungleMysteryPalm0501-01-21.thumb.JPG.8607e6e44d2ac4b392b9142e2106993f.JPG972527362_JungleMysteryPalm0601-01-21.thumb.JPG.f49c6bc59d81dc15d36b673f40cfb2a8.JPG1417544441_JungleMysteryPalmnArchocunn0101-01-21.thumb.JPG.b31cc20ca34bf6d30ac423bdda96ee4a.JPG607973843_JungleMysteryPalm0701-01-21.thumb.JPG.8fb3897bef561c3d32e5febf34858a96.JPG

Meg

Palms of Victory I shall wear

Cape Coral (It's Just Paradise)
Florida
Zone 10A on the Isabelle Canal
Elevation: 15 feet

I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade.

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Far from expert on these species, but I can't resist an unanswered question. 

My first reaction was no, not B. hapala, as the crownshaft doesn't display the slight bulge I'm used to seeing. Also NewCal palms often exhibit sort of a faint tiger striping on the crownshaft - I don't know the correct terminology. If it's there it's very subtle, not obvious in the photo. But... looking at the leaves and trunk, it could be Burretiokentia. Once it blooms it will be unmistakable. Or it could be a dark green A. cunninghamiana. It does not look like a Ravenea to me. The long crownshaft would rule that out.

So I'm not much help!

Kim Cyr

Between the beach and the bays, Point Loma, San Diego, California USA
and on a 300 year-old lava flow, Pahoa, Hawaii, 1/4 mile from the 2018 flow
All characters  in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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Meg,

Definitely not B. Hapala or Ravenea. The latter lack a true crownshaft as Kim points out.  It looks like Archontophoenix to me. There’s a surprising amount of variability in them. I have posted one of mine purchased as “tropical foliage “ from a big box store years ago. It is, year after year, one of the prettiest palms I have. Big, open crown, nice dark green and a crownshaft similar to yours. Interestingly, it also has the wide, flared base that yours has. Someone on this forum suggested it was A. alexandrae var Beatrice, whatever that is. Beautiful palm!

  • Like 3

Bret

 

Coastal canyon area of San Diego

 

"In the shadow of the Cross"

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Looks like archontophoenix to me as well

"it's not dead it's sleeping"

Santee ca, zone10a/9b

18 miles from the ocean

avg. winter 68/40.avg summer 88/64.records 113/25

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18 hours ago, Kim said:

it could be a dark green A. cunninghamiana

 

15 hours ago, James B said:

Looks like A.Cunninghamiana 

 

14 hours ago, quaman58 said:

looks like Archontophoenix

 

4 minutes ago, Stevetoad said:

archontophoenix

Four of a kind, can't get much better than that.  image.png.2ab991bda4fec128af0979cea0099001.pngimage.png.ad68837b9ac2d966f3ba497c07515368.pngimage.png.90c4729c8d77bd839343d0935d653e7b.pngimage.png.07c23e5e68895c0e9fb7fcf2bf823452.png

  • Like 1

33.0782 North -117.305 West  at 72 feet elevation

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